Ironing board pad



Dec. 8, 1942. c, RU TEN RG 2,304,283

IRONING BOARD PAD Filed Feb. 20, 1940 a 14 Y 12 :6 o

INVENTOR Patented Dec. 8, 1942 NT OFFICE IRONING BOARD PAD Charles Ruttenberg, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to American Textile Company, a partnership composed of Max Ruttenberg, Meyer Ruttenberg,

Joseph Ruttenberg, Harry Ruttenberg,

and

Charles Ruttenberg, a partnership of Pennsylvania Application February 20, 1940, Serial No. 319,881

Claims.

My present invention relates to an ironing board pad which has new and useful structural and functional characteristics. The new pad is of the stretch-on type and is adapted to underlie an ironing board cover which is superimposed thereon.

So far as I am aware, it has not been general practice to employ ironing board pads of the stretch-on type. Such pads as have heretofore been used are either merely strips or pieces of padding material adapted to be laid on anironing board and ihavingzno means-for holding the same in position or simply discarded pieces of cloth or even paper which have been placed on the ironing board under an ironing board cover. I believe that some attempt has been made to provide an ironing board pad which is somewhat larger than the working surface of the ironing board and which is bent around and under the edge of the same, being provided in some instances with ties of cord or tape. While this has not been very extensive, it has been attended by a number of difficulties and disadvantages which presumably hav prevented the more widespread adoption of such a pad. The fact that the pad is composed of relatively thick material which is characterized by no great tensile strength is one of-the main-reasons why such'a pad has had a short and relatively unsatisfactory life. The sharp bends around the edge of the ironing board have caused the fibers to-break or fray, and the verythickness of the material itself has made the bends bulky and undesirable. Likewise, these pads slip out of position and necessitate readjustment from time to time; such slipping often causes unsatisfactory ironing operations, which accordingly have to be repeated. It has therefore been rather general experience that there has been no satisfactory pad available which will eifectively serve the intended purposes. It is chiefly'this discrepancy toward whichmy present invention is directed.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an ironing board pad which, while made largely of thick and soft padding material,

avoids the previously encountered difficulties due to sharp turns and slippage.

Another object of the invention resides in the production of an ironing board pad which is of the stretch-on type. v

A further object of the invention resides in providing an ironing board pad of the stretch-on type which has a main or body portion of relatively thick and soft padding material which is substantially co-extensive with the upper surface of the conventional ironing board, which has a relatively thin and strong band or strip-like por- A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of an ironing board pad of the stretch-on type which is substantially self-ad justable and self-smoothing and Which when so adjusted or smoothed tends to maintain such position and condition without any appreciable tendency to depart'therefrom.

Other and further objects and advantages will be understood by those skilled in this art or will be apparent or pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing the use thereof on an ironing board, and in this drawing:

Fig. l'illustrates in perspective an ironing board to which my new pad has been applied and also showing a fragment of an ironing board cover;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken through the ironing board of Fig. 1 and showing my new pad in operative position thereon;

Fig. 2a is a fragment of a modified form of device with a flat stretchable member.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective "View of one end of my new ironing board pad in the extended normal contracted condition;

Fig. 4a. is a more or less diagrammatic section through the pad of Fig. 4 and taken on the plane line IVa-IVa thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of that end of the pad Whereat the stretchable and contractible member has its ends secured togethe but enlarged for purposes of clarity.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the various views.

The ironing board pad I!) of the present invention is of the stretch-on type, by which I mean a pad which is provided with an elastic member which enables it to be stretched over the ironing board and then allowed to contract to assume its working position. So far as I am aware, however, a stretch-on pad is entirely new with me and enables the user to secure a number of substantial As will be apparent from Fig. 1, together with the fragmentary section of Fig. 2, the pad is stretched and put on over the ironing board top H, the usual mode of application by one person being to hook one end of the cover over one end of the board and then to stretch the same until the other end can be placed over the other end of the board, whereupon the pad is released.

'When so released, the pad is characterized by more or less automatically adjusting and smooth ing itself to the exact size and contour of the particular ironing board, this being highly desirable due to the fact that boards vary somewhat in their shape and size so as ordinarily to necessitate considerable manual adjusting and smoothing operations. This self-adjusting of my new pad isdue to the new and unusual structural nature thereof which will now be described in detail.

The ironing board pad l constituting my new invention is composed of three main parts, name- 1y, a body portion of relatively thick and soft padding material l3; an intermediate portion I4 of relatively thin and strong material which is of band or strip-like form and one edge of which is suitably secured as by overstitching [5 to the marginal edge of the padding material l3, and a stretchable and contractible member l6 which is held Within overstitching I! at the other edge of the intermediate portion [4 and in peripheral relationship thereto.

The portion l3 of padding material is substantially co-eXtensive (when flat) with the upper surface of the ironing board top In so that for the large bulk of ironing boards the edge of the padding material is coterminous with the upper working surface of the board, i. e., the padding material comes to the edge but not beyond. This padding material is relatively thick and soft in its nature, and while it is preferably made of hair, of jute or of knitted material, it may equally well be composed of any other suitable material. As shown on the drawing, this padding material is generally made up of transversely disposed or extending strands l8 held by longitudinally extending rows of stitching 19.

In a preferred form of the invention this padding may be of a thickness of the order of onefourth of an inch, but any desired thickness may be employed without departing from the scope or principles hereof. This padding material underlies the working surface of an ironing board cover such as that fragmentarily shown at in Fig. 1, and therefore the ironing operations are carried out on such cover but directly over said pad. If desired, the pad may be provided with resistance to scorching or burning by im-' pregnating the same with any of the known or available chemical solutions adapted for that purpose. This does not, however, form an essential feature of the invention.

The intermediate portion I4 is preferably of textile material such as muslin, linen or the like, although it may be of any suitable thin, strong and flexible material, whether textile or otherwise. This portion I4 is connected along one edge to the edge of the padding material I3 by means of stitching, such as that shown at IS in Fig. 2, as already explained. This stitching is preferably an overstitching and secures the intermediate portion I4 in a position such that the two edges are substantially flush with one another,'the stitching passing through both portions marginally removed somewhat back from the said edges. The two members I3 and M are thus so put together that during use the stitching is, in effect, inside out, thereby presenting a minimum of stitching on the exposed or upper surface of the pad during use. This will be best understood from Fig. 2. I have found that this type of stitching and this relationship of the parts make for a strong and advantageous seam, but I do not intend that this shall constitute a restriction on the invention which may embody any desired or suitable type of scam so long as a strong connection is produced.

The third main portion of my new pad is the stretchable and contractible member l6. This is preferably composed of suitable elastic material, either covered or uncovered, and of circularor round cross section, as will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 5, in particular, although I am not limited in either of these respects, as for the-purposes of this invention it makes little difference whether the member I6 is covered or not or whether its cross section is circular or non-circular. A circular uncovered elastic member has the advantage of lower cost. I, however,- specifically contemplate the use of a net or non-circular member lBa as a modification (see Fig. 2a) since the same in some cases grips the underside of the ironing board better than a round mem ber. This stretchable member I B (or Ilia) is secured to the opposite edge of the intermediate portion M, the stretchable member being applied thereto under light or partial tension. This is accomplished by partially or incompletely 'stretchingthe member [6 as it is fed to the edge of the intermediate member, and while in this partially stretched condition it is confined within the overstitching H which, as'well be particularly noted, passes through the marginal edge of the intermediate member 14 but does 7 not pass through the stretchable member itself.

As will be particularly understood from Figs; 2 and 5, the stretchable member [8 is held on the peripheral edge of the intermediate portion M'in such manner that the adjacent portion of the intermediate member forms a prolongation'of a diameter of such stretchable member, i. e'., the stretchable member is not on the side of the material near the edge but is practically entirely beyond the material of the intermediate portion, being actually in contact with the periphery or circumference of the intermediate portion. The overstitching, in effect, forms a discontinuous casing for member [6 which is tight enough to exert some transverse compressional forces on the member. The ends of the stretchable material 16 are preferably clamped in overlapping relationship (see Fig. 5 especially) by means: of the spiral-like clamping member 2fl, although rit is to be understood that other specific types of clamping means may be employed. While I have found that it is entirely satisfactory to clamp the ends of the stretchable member in the manner shown, nevertheless as a modified form of the invention I provide for the clamping of the ends in mdre or less abutting relationship and in aligned position in the manner shown in Fig. '7 of my Patent #2,l'79,458, issued November 7, 1939. In such case the ends may be clamped either by means of two separate clamping devicesof the kind shown, or a wider clamp may be used which straddles the aligned ends and, in effect, locks them together and to the adjacent material of the intermediate portion. This latter type of clamp is per se well known and is not specifically a part of this invention.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be understood that when not in use and thus when not inits extended condition the pad is trough-like in shape so that a transverse section therethrough will appear in the form of a U. The extreme ends of theU are composed of the stretchable member l6 and the concave bottom or central portion of the U is made up of the padding material 13, the balance being the intermediate portion I4. This structural relationship of the parts is perhaps best illustrated by Fig. 4a which, While somewhat diagrammatic in character, well delineates, the cross-sectional appearance of the new pad at any point between the ends thereof. The manner of applying the pad to the ironing board will be understood from what has preceded, and likewise I have already pointed out that the pad of this invention lies between the ironing board top H and a suitable ironing board cover of any type now employed for that purpose, although I prefer a cover of the type or kind described in my Patent No. 2,179,458, issued November '7, 1939.

I have found, in particular, that an ironing board provided with the combination of the present stretch-on ironing board pad and the stretch-on cover of my above identified patent forms an unusually effective combination, giving rise to definite advantages to the user. An ironing :board pad in accordance with my present application not only has none of the padding material bent around the vertical side edges of the ironing board top but provides a special strong, thin and flexible material for this purpose. The pad of the present invention not only adjusts itself in working position with little or no manual attention but effectively grips the under surface of the ironing board top to maintain the relationship of the parts. The self-adjusting and smoothing feature is attributable, at least in large part, to the particular manner in which the stretchable member is applied and maintained in position, and particularly as such involves the lack of stitching through such stretchable member. Therefore,the stretchable member is enabled to creep or move somewhat with respect to the intermediate member and, in fact, does so as soon as stretching tension is placed upon the article. assume the correct position initially with little or no attention but maintains that position and thus prevents the ironing of ridges, wrinkles and other irregularities into the goods or article pressed or ironed on the cover because all such irregularities are immediately reproduced not only in the cover but in the material or article being pressed, as is common knowledge. Ihe removal of such is attended by a varying amount of difliculty and inconvenience, depending upon the kind of material or article involved and the pressure with which the irregularity was produced.

An ironing board pad in accordance with the present invention therefore has new and useful features and utility not shared by prior known pads. The present pad is not only inexpensive to produce but is exceptionally easy to apply. It therefore produces its new and desirable advantages without appreciably increasing the expense while at the same time greatly increasing- Thus, not only does the pad the'convenience and 'ease 'of application and use. Within the terms .of the appended claims such other or further modifications, substitutions, additions and omissions may be made as will suggest themselves to' those skilled in. this field, and all such are definitely deemedto be a part of .this invention. 7

Having thusv described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by'Lette'rs Patent is:

1. An ironing board pad having a relatively thick padding portion adapted to conform to the flat working surface of an ironing board and substantially coextensive therewith and a relatively thin and more flexible circumambient portion adapted to-conform. tothe corners'and edge surfaces of the ironing board and the contiguous marginal portion of the under side of such ironing board, the two portions being sewed together along contacting edges and the flexible portion terminating in a stretchable and contractible member which is held peripherally with respect to the flexible portion within overstitching but which is otherwise unattached thereto.

2. An ironing board pad comprising a main body portion of padding material spatulate in shape when in use and a strip of thin flexible material one peripheral edge of which is overstitched to the edge of said body of padding material and the other peripheral edge of which is provided with a peripherally disposed, ruibber stretchable member held in position within overstitching which passes through the strip but not through the stretchable and contractible member,

.7 the stretchable member being applied under tension and adapting the pad to make a snug, smooth fit on the ironing board in such manner that the padding material is substantially coextensive with the working surface of the board, the strip of material bends around and under the side edge of the board and the stretchable member grips the under side of the board adjacent the'marginal edge thereof while retaining the capacity to creep somewhat with respect to the strip.

3. An ironing board pad which until applied is in a partially contracted condition but which is adapted to accommodate itself to the surfaces of an ironing board in a snug and smooth manner, said ironing board pad being adapted further to underlie an ironing board cover such as that of the stretch-on type and being composed of a central portion of relatively soft and thick padding material which is substantially coextensive with the working surface of the ironing board, a strip of relatively thin and flexible material peripherally stitched to the edge of said padding portion and adapted to accommodate itself to the vertical side edge of the ironing board and the marginal portion of the under surface thereof and a stretchable member held in peripheral relationship to the other edge of said flexible material within overstitching which confines said stretch.- able member in the stated position but without passing therethrough, said stretchable member being applied under light tension and being capable of slight movement with relation to said overstitching for providing good conformity to said ironing board.

4. An ironing board pad which is troughshaped, which is normally in a partially contracted condition and which when in use is adapted to accommodate itself smoothly and snugly to the external surfaces of an ironin board, said pad being made up of a relatively thick and soft portion substantially coextensive with the upper side of an ironing board, a relatively thin and flexible band-like portion secured to the edge of said padding material and a stretchable member held in peripheral association with the other edge of said band-like portion and applied thereto in a lightly tensioned condition and in such manner that said stretchable member is capable of creeping with relation to stitched edge to edge with said body portion and forming an extension thereof, a stretchable member positioned under partial tension incontact with the free peripheral edge of said woven material but unattached thereto, and spaced gathering overstitching passing through said woven material adjacent the peripheral edge thereof and around said stretchable member to confine the latter within the said stitching without interfering with the capacity of said stretch able member to move slightlyrelatively to the woven material, the portion of the woven material adjacent the stretchable member being substantially in alignment with and disposed as an extension of a radius of the stretchable member.

CHARLES RUTTENBERG. 

